Behaviour

Well being of animals had been historically a public concern, since the beginning of human kind history. As world’s population grows there is a need for food including meat. In the last decades there has been a great improvement in poultry production based on the careful control of several aspects, among which nutrition and management …

A questionnaire study was performed among Swedish organic livestock farmers to determine their view of animal welfare and other ethical issues in animal production. The questionnaire was sent to 56.5% of the target group and the response rate was 75.6%. A principal components analysis (exploratory factor analysis) was performed to get a more manageable data …

The development in organic livestock production can be attributed to an increased consumer interest in organic products while, at the same time, increased farmers’ interest in converting to organic production methods—often stimulated by governmental support or subsidies. It is important that organic production systems can fulfil the expectations of each of these stakeholders if organic …

Stress and diseases have the potential to influence the deposition of eggshell pigmentation during egg formation. Therefore, defining the shell color of eggs on a daily basis could be a representative method for monitoring stress or health status of a flock and maintaining good performance. A novel way of measuring eggshell color based on visible-near …

Magnocellular neurons in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus containing arginine vasotocin (AVT) project to the posterior pituitary and release the peptide peripherally to target tissues. Parvocellular neurons contain either corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), AVT, or both neuropeptides and project to the median eminence. Corticotropin-releasing hormone and AVT are then transported to the anterior pituitary where they bind …

Social relationships in domestic fowl are commonly assumed to rely on social recognition and its pre-requisite, discrimination of group-mates. If this is true, then the unnatural physical and social environments in which commercial laying hens are typically housed, when compared with those in which their progenitor species evolved, may compromise social function with consequent implications …

Methods available to assess animal welfare at farm level are based on a range of welfare parameters, which can be divided into two categories, environment-based and animal-based parameters. The first category describes features of the environment and management, which can be considered prerequisites for welfare. The second category records animals’ responses to that particular environment …

The field of applied animal behaviour science has seen significant changes since David Wood-Gush and others began to study the behaviour of domesticated animals in the 1950s. This paper looks at these changes in order to provide a perspective on where the science has come from and where it might be going. Applied behaviour science …

Newly hatched chicks are routinely subjected to varying durations of transport shortly after hatching. Because little is known about the effects of this putative stressor on behavioural development, the present experiment tested for the effects of a simulated long transport-like treatment during the first day of life in two strains of laying hen chicks on …

The main advantages of battery cages for laying hens over alternative husbandry systems are (1) increased hygiene resulting in a much lower incidence of diseases in which the infectious agent is spread through the droppings, (2) small group size resulting in a low incidence of social friction, (3) ease of management, (4) absence of litter …